


Schooled

by the_riptide_queen



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Fluff, lapidot - Freeform, tHERES A LOT OF FLUFF JUST YOU WAIT
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-16 09:32:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4620339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_riptide_queen/pseuds/the_riptide_queen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peridot didn't want to go to boarding school. It was the last thing she wanted to do... until she met her roommate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lapis and The Gang

**Author's Note:**

> okay this first chapter's pretty short, but they'll probably get longer as the story progresses. i'm super excited about this fic! if you're not already following me on tumblr, you can find me here!: http://the-riptide-queen.tumblr.com

Alright, hear me out. 

I love her. 

I know, this might seem kinda cheesy. It might be cliché to say that when she smiles, my heart skips a beat... And when she looks at me, I get all flustered... And when she laughs, I just melt. It's totally cliché, but it's all true. 

I should probably tell you the story first, though. 

It all started in September, when my mother and I moved to our new home in the quaint, oceanside town called Beach City. Okay, you might think that going to a boarding school is for snobs that think they're top shit and are super rich. But, I go to Beach City Prep, and it's really the opposite... For the most part. The people are pretty chill, I guess. The teachers aren't all assholes... It's against the stereotype, although I think it would be better if I had friends. Yep, I had to leave all my friends behind (even if there were only like, three) to go to this strange little boarding school that my mom got a job as a secretary at. It was treacherous being the new kid. Even worse being the tiny, awkward, nerdy new kid. I tried not to let it get to me, though. I just had to put up with it.

The first day was stressful, above all things. Teachers tugging at my sleeve, saying "You must me Peridot! Nice to meet you!". I just shook their hand and smiled politely, but it was weird. So very weird. Everything was pretty much sucking for me. Well, that is, until I met my roommate. 

Okay, so I was walking to my dorm, room number 326. I fumbled around a bit to get to my key due to the excessive amounts of bags I was carrying (only half of the contents of these bags were even clothes, the rest contained my laptop, my iPad, my millions of different wires and cables... Tech stuff). I opened the door and, to my surprise, someone was already there. She had her back turned, but when she turned around to face me, I held back a gasp. 

She was beautiful. 

Short blue hair, big blue eyes, tanned skin, and the prettiest smile I'd ever seen. She was setting up her desk that she had obviously already claimed. She had already put out three old-fashioned looking Mason jars, one of them filled with pencils and pens, one had paintbrushes, and one appeared to have makeup brushes. She had stacks of notebooks and sketchbooks. It was pretty obvious that she was an artist, judging by all the artsy supplies, plus the giant Ziplock bag stuffed full with paint.

"Oh, hi, you must be Peridot! I'm Lapis, I'm your roommate." She introduced herself. 

I'd been hearing "you must be peridot!" so many times that is got completely unbearable, but coming from her wasn't as bad. 

"H-hi." I said. 

"Sooo, which bed do you want? I really don't care." She asked, shrugging. 

"Uhh, I'll take that one." I pointed to the bed on the right side of the room. 

"Okay." She smiled. "Then I'll take the other one." 

Oh shit, I could already tell I was blushing. I quickly turned around and started to unpack my clothes in the closet closest to me. 

One green hoodie, a pair of ripped jeans, about fifty different pairs of black leggings, a grey crop top...

That one dress. 

My mom made me bring it. It was pale green, it went down to my knees. It had thin straps that crossed in the back. It would be a lie to say I didn't like it, as it was actually quite nice. However, I would never wear it. I didn't look good in dresses. 

"Hey, that's cute!" I heard Lapis say from behind me. Shit, she saw it. "Sorry, I just glanced over when you were holding it up, but it's a really cute dress." She told me. "I bet you'd look nice in it."

"Heh, well don't bet on it." I said. "I probably won't even wear it." I slid it onto a hanger and pushed it to the very back of the closet. 

That afternoon was pretty much silent, as we were both settling into the new space. Lapis started playing some 8tracks playlist through her tiny speakers. It was mostly some very relaxed, acoustic ballads. Not gonna lie, her taste in music wasn't really my cup of tea, but I survived. Later on that evening, when everyone was starting to go to sleep, the silence was broken by a loud, abrupt knock on the door. 

"Yo, Lapis! Let us in, ya little shit!" Came a gruff voice from the other side of the door. The knocking resumed, but this time it sounded like more than one person. 

"Coming!" Lapis called back. I watched her from the corner of my eye. She came up to the door, and when she opened it, she was greeted by four people. 

"Hey, baby!" The shortest girl grinned. 

"Hi, guys!" Lapis replied with a smile. "I didn't think you'd would be picking me up this early." 

"We've gotta make a couple stops first." A taller girl with short, reddish blonde hair and ghostly pale skin. "Someone forgot to get gas." She looked accusingly at another taller girl with curly black hair, wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses. 

"Don't look at me, look at Amethyst. She used the car last." The girl with sunglasses crossed her arms and looked over to the shortest girl, who I assumed was her sister. They looked a lot alike.

"Hey wait..." The tallest one spoke up. I recognized her voice as the one knocking on the door. She had long, dyed blonde hair, piercing eyes that looked like she could stare you to death, and insane biceps. Like, in-sane. 

"Who's this?" She pointed at me. I stiffened up. 

"Oh! This is Peridot. She's my roommate." Lapis said. "Peridot, come over here! Let me introduce you to my friends." 

I got up from my desk chair and walked over to Lapis. 

"Peridot, meet Garnet," Sunglasses, I thought. 

"Amethyst," The short one. 

"Pearl," The redhead. 

"And Jasper." The scary looking one.

"Hi, I'm Peridot." I waved, awkwardly.

"We're all going to Rocky's. Wanna come?" Lapis asked. 

Of course, Rocky's. The 50's themed diner just off the pier. I'd never been there before, but I heard that's where all the cool people hung out. I didn't really want to go, but at this point I was desperate to make some friends. Plus, if anyone saw me, at least I'd be seen with some presumably popular people, and that was yet another opportunity I didn't want to pass up. 

"Sure, I-it's not like I'm doing anything." I said. 

"Awesome!" Lapis smiled. She grabbed her sweater and threw her phone into her purse. "Let's head out."

I grabbed my hoodie, wallet and phone and followed them to the parking lot. They led me to a minivan that could easily belong to a mother with like, 3 kids. 

"Oh, and we don't have four seats back there so someone's going to have to double buckle." Amethyst said, turning to face us as she got into the drivers seat. 

"I'll double with Peridot." Lapis volunteered. I could feel myself blushing. "If that's alright with you." She said to me. 

"Yeah, it's fine." I said.

The four of us crammed into the backseat with Jasper on the left, Pearl in the middle and Lapis and I on the right, squashed together. 

From the outside, the car looked nice. However, inside, I got an entirely different perspective. It was very messy and it literally smelled like a dumpster. There were candy wrappers, half eaten bags of chips and empty bottles of pop everywhere I looked, not to mention the chewed gum stuck to the backs of the seats, which was almost making me gag. 

"I still hate that you don't clean up after yourself." Garnet grumbled. 

"No, no, you don't understand. There's a place for everything, and everything's in it's place!" Amethyst explained, even though that was hardly an explanation for this monstrosity. 

"You're cleaning out this car as soon as possible, or else you can't drive it anymore." Garnet threatened her, lowering her sunglasses down her nose to look her in the eye. 

"Jeez, fine..." Amethyst rolled her eyes as she pulled out of the parking lot. 

I wasn't too sure what to think of Lapis and her friends at first. Sure, they were intimidating and harsh. But, I liked them, and I thought that if I put a little work into it, I could join their group. Anything that would get me closer to Lapis. Because I liked her too.


	2. Rocky's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOO chapter 2! Thanks for the positive feedback on tumblr :) I'm gonna try to add chapter 3 as soon as possible

After a stop at the gas station, frequent outbursts of laughter and a LOT of 90's R&B (Garnet's choice, the rule in their car was that the passenger got to pick the music), we finally pulled up to Rocky's. The neon pink sign above us was blinding me, but I looked away. Amethyst parked the car and we all climbed out. 

"Lapis, why are we coming here so late at night?" I asked. 

"Because nobody's here, it's only us. We basically get like, the VIP treatment." Lapis said with a laugh. "Plus, they're open 24 hours." 

I suddenly remembered a very crucial fact. 

"But... Don't we have a curfew?" I asked her, nervously. We could get in some sort of trouble for sneaking out, couldn't we? And if my mom found out? I'd be as good as dead. And to think of the first impression it would give myself and my mom. She'd have "secretary/mother of a troublemaking daughter" stamped across her forehead for who knows how long. I was starting to build up anxiety about this whole thing. There were security cameras, right? Oh my god, I'm dead. I'm dead! That's it, I'm getting expelled on the very first day. They'd find out for sure. 

"Well, yeah, but the staff never really pays attention to the security cameras." Lapis said. "I guess they just trust us."

I didn't believe that for a second. They'd find out one way or another. It might not be right away, but I had a gut feeling that they would. But I guess, when that did happen, I would just have to accept it. Whatever happens will happen. I shrugged it off as we all walked in. The second I got inside, I immediately got nostalgia for a time that I didn't even grow up in. The whole place was basically the classic 50's dive. Tiled floors, red booths, the whole deal. There was even a jukebox quietly playing music. I had never actually seen a real jukebox, but it looked really cool. It totally completed the whole thing. Everybody slipped into a booth. Lapis was right, we were the only ones there. It was empty. The only other people there were a guy that looked around our age and 40-ish year old man in the kitchen. The our-age-ish boy came by to our table. 

"Hey there, welcome to Rocky's! Can I take your order?" He greeted us with a rather cheerful smile. He looked like he'd been drinking endless amounts of coffee.

"We'll get chocolate milkshakes all around." Garnet said. "Like usual... Except Pearl's getting water." 

I was about to object, I didn't really want a milkshake, but I didn't. I'd have to just go with it. I wanted to fit in with these guys, and if it meant getting their drink of choice, I'd have to be down for it.

After everyone ordered food, they started talking about school. Like, teachers they hated, snobs they wanted to avoid, people they might have their eye on... And stories about their summers. Apparently, Pearl went to Paris for the whole month of July. She raved on and on about it, how it was now her favourite place on earth. Garnet and Amethyst had gone to Hawaii with their family. They had gone surfing, and while Amethyst failed miserably, Garnet got the hang of it (hence leading to sibling rivalry). I stayed silent, though. There wasn't much for me to say. Plus, they weren't talking to me, so why should I try and talk to them. 

I noticed Pearl looking at me for a second. Once everybody stopped talking, she finally said something to me. 

"So, Peridot, where are you from?" She asked. 

"Oh, I'm from New York City." I told her. 

"Oooh, fancy!" Amethyst said. "Ever been to Central Park?" 

"Yeah, I lived nearby. It's amazing around Christmas, you should see it." I smiled a bit, remembering how beautiful the park was all covered in snow, lit up with strings of lights. It made me miss it, as Christmas was always my favourite time of year. I already had a countdown on my phone counting the days until the holidays. So far there were exactly 108 days until Christmas Eve.

Just then, the waiter came back with our drinks and food. When he placed Amethyst's plate in from of her, Pearl nearly had a heart attack. 

"That is the biggest burger I've ever seen!" She exclaimed. "How is it possible that you're going to eat that?"

"I dunno, we'll have to find out!" Amethyst said with a raspy laugh. "The question is, how is it possible that _you_ stay on that stupid diet?"

"It's not a diet, okay? It's a way of life." Pearl countered. She stuck a fork into her salad. 

I leaned over to Lapis and whispered, "Is she a vegetarian?"

"Vegan, actually. She started a few months ago." Lapis whispered back. 

"Man, it is great to be back in this old joint." Jasper said, stretching her arms back and resting her hands behind her head. 

"Yeah, it's been a while." Amethyst sighed. 

"You mean you haven't been since last year?" I asked them. 

"Well, we made it a rule that we can only come here as a group, all together." Garnet explained. "And since some of us were away for summer, we couldn't really."

That's saying something. They obviously were a really tight knit group. If I wanted to join them, I would have to try extra hard to fit in with them. They looked like the kind of people that wouldn't let some just any random new girl officially join their group right off the bat, and to top it all off, it seemed like they were only trying to be nice to me because I was Lapis' roommate. 

 

We finished up at Rocky's, then headed back to the school. We had to be extremely quiet since it was now about 11:00 pm. 

Lapis and I tiptoed our way to our dorm. Once we got inside, Lapis kicked her shoes off and sat down on her bed. 

"Well, that was fun." She sighed. 

"Yeah, I guess it was." I agreed. "I think I'm gonna like it here."

"You'll have a blast, I'm sure." Lapis smiled. "Oh, I never got your number!" She pulled out her phone. She opened the Contacts app and went to add a new one. "Here, you can just put it in." 

She passed me her phone and I typed up my number, then handed it back to her.

"Oh, um, there's this thing I do with all my friends where I put a nickname on everybody's contact. Any requests?" She asked me. 

After thinking for a moment, I decided on one. It wasn't embarrassing, but it was catchy. It was what my mom used to call me when I was younger, and I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed when she stopped using it.

"You could put Peri." I told her. 

"Peri, huh?" Lapis said, typing it into the Name section. "I like it. It's cute."

We changed into pyjamas and climbed into bed. I couldn't sleep for a while, so I just stared out the window by my bed, watching cars go by, looking at the moon and stars. I remembered how I hardly ever was able to look at the stars due to the fact that in New York, the buildings were so tall. And plus, I lived in an apartment and my room didn't have a window.

Just then, my phone screen illuminated- I had gotten a text. Shoving on my glasses, I squinted to check it. 

**Hey, it's lapis! :) can't sleep uggghhh**

I looked over to Lapis, who's face was lit up by her own phone. She gave me a smile, and I smiled back.

God, she was way too cute.


	3. Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally got around to updating! thnx to autumn (solkatspacekitties) for helping pick what the chapter should be about :)

The morning after going to Rocky's, I was awoken by a quiet voice. 

"Peridotttt..."

I mumbled something incomprehensible, rolling over in my bed and pulling the covers over my face. I still hadn't gotten used to changing my sleep schedule from summer mode back to school mode. I needed my sleep - it was painful waking up so early. 

"Peridot, wake uuuup!" The voice said, a bit louder this time.

It was Lapis. She was sitting on the edge of my bed, coaxing me to get up. I noticed that her voice, at such a quiet tone, was really pleasant to listen to. Admittedly, I purposely pretended to sleep a couple minutes longer so that I could hear her try to wake me up again, which she did. But when she realized that I wasn't going to reply to that, she eventually touched my shoulder and gently shook me awake, now saying my name at full speaking volume. I groaned and rolled over to face her. Squinting at her face, I noticed a pair of dark circles under her eyes and an overall tired look. She looked like she didn't sleep at all, which was probably my fault since I had replied to her text. Our conversation went something like this.

 

**Lapis: Hey it's lapis! can't sleep uuughhhh**

**Peridot: Haha, me either....... still getting used to this place lol**

**Lapis: sooo did u have fun tonight?**

**Peridot: yeah, i guess**

**Lapis: Sorry if they seemed kinda scary at first, they r a bit of a wild bunch...**

**Peridot: Its fine, they seem fun.**

There was a pause here. I wasn't too sure what was happening. Had Lapis fallen asleep? I didn't want to look over at her, that would be way too awkward. So, I turned on the camera app and turned it to the front camera, then lifted my phone up so that I could see behind me. Sure enough I got a perfect view of the opposite bed. Her face was illuminated by the screen of her phone, so I could see her. She was still facing me, and I could see her eyes were droopy, on the verge of closing, and a chunk of blue hair had fallen on her face. She wasn't doing anything. Her thumbs weren't tapping or scrolling, she was just staring at the screen. 

I can't quite remember exactly what we talked about afterwards, but at one point I texted her asking, to confirm, if Garnet was Amethyst's sister, and she replied that she was. 

Anyways, back to the morning.

"What time is itttt..." I grumbled, rubbing my eyes. 

"That doesn't matter, I've gotta show you something." She said. "You can even just wear your pyjamas."

I sat up in my bed, shoved my glasses onto my face and swung my legs over the edge to sit beside her. I gave her an irritated scowl. 

"What are we doing, Lapis?"

"Well, I figured that it might be a good idea to show you around the school since I've been going here a while and you got here yesterday." She told me. 

"This early?" I complained after checking my phone to reveal that it was only 6:30 AM. 

"Yeah, this way nobody's around." She explained. "It's less crowded, y'know?" She grabbed me by the arm. "C'mon!" 

•••••

"Are you sure nobody's around?" I asked as we entered the school building. It was a chilly morning, and knowing this, Lapis had brought herself a hoodie, while I was left freezing in my tshirt and PJ shorts. My teeth were chattering a little bit, and being inside the building actually didn't help - it was pretty much the exact same temperature outside. Probably because every single freaking window I saw was open. I crossed my arms and tried to create warmth with friction by rubbing my hands on my upper arms, but to no prevail. They must not have turned the heating on inside yet. Duh. 

"Of course I'm sure! Okay, so which classes do you have?" Lapis asked. I pulled out my phone to check in my Notes, where I had typed in my schedule. 

"First is math, which is disgusting." I told her. 

"Ugh, math first thing in the morning? That's awful." She said. "Do you have Mrs. Dawson?" I nodded. "Okay, her class is just down this hallway." We walked down the hall. I peeked into each classroom as we passed them to see what was inside. Often there was a teacher in their significant classroom. Sometimes the classroom would be empty, though. I soon came to realize what was making this feel so awkward; it was the fact that I was so used to school hallways to be loud and chaotic. I had never really walked down a hallway when pretty much nobody was there. It was much more calm, and it also made you notice things. Like how one of the lights on the ceiling flickered as it was probably burning out, or the fact that the lockers colours went in an order (blue, red, blue, green). 

We made it to her classroom, and I peered inside. 

"Is she in there?" Lapis asked me. 

"Nnnnope." I said after scanning across the room. 

"Good. Mrs. Dawson's a colossal bitch." Lapis whispered. We both laughed quietly and turned the corner down the adjoining hallway. 

Lapis showed me where each one of my classes was located, all the while gossiping about the teachers and students. She told me about who had a crush on who, who hated who, and who to avoid. This whole mini tour was way more helpful than any orientation held by the staff. This was probably because, in a staff-organized tour, I'd be totally lost. But, with Lapis, I actually wanted to listen to her. Plus, she was doing this for me, which was definitely the sweetest thing she could do to help me get used to this place. She just wanted to help me out. 

Despite having to wake up really early, I actually had a good time. We talked about all sorts of things, like my life back in New York, Lapis's home just outside of Beach City, our families... It was interesting to learn a bit more about Lapis, like how instead of saying "couch" she said "sofa", and how she always got the exact same combination of dyes to colour her hair the vibrant blue that it was (she decided to go blue because of the gemstone she was named after - lapis lazuli). Learning all these things was cool, it made me realize that behind that rather perfect exterior, she actually had a really interesting, imperfectly normal life. But that didn't make me like her any less, if anything I liked her more. 

Suddenly, we heard the sound of hundreds of alarm clocks going off at the exact same time, which startled both of us and kind of made us jump. Out the window, I could see people starting to emerge from their bedrooms to the cafeteria for breakfast. 

“Well, looks like everyone’s getting up.” I said. “Guess we should head over there.”

"Yeah," Lapis agreed, the word drawling out with a yawn. She did look exhausted, I wondered again if it really was because I had texted her. It must not have been, since we didn't really talk for long, we probably stopped talking around 11:30 and I went to sleep a little while after that. I wondered if she hadn't, she sure looked like she had stayed up until at least 1:00 am. The poor girl, she probably did. After learning all that about her and how she was so attached to her home and family, she must have felt at least a little bit homesick. Admittedly, I was too, but it didn't keep me up all night. I traveled a lot with my mom, so I was used to moving from place to place, hotel room to hotel room.

After Lapis lead me back through the hallways, pointing out each one of my classes again as we passed them, we made our way to the cafeteria building where we grabbed trays and lined up to get food. Lapis got herself a massive cup of coffee, no doubt to wake her up. 

We ate breakfast, then parted our separate ways as Lapis was headed to social studies and I was off to math. But while I was in my classes, I periodically checked the clock to see how much more time there was until lunch so that I could see Lapis again.

I missed her already. And that was saying something, since I just met her and all. But I really liked her. 

Shit.


End file.
